Collapsible telescope stand



311i}? 1951 H. H. KIRBY ETAL 2,559,971

COLLAPSIBLE TELESCOPE STAND Filed May 5, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Herberf H. Kirby Charles B. Thar/'ngfon INVENTORS.

BY Mm, 25%

Patented July 10, 1951 OFFICE COLLAPSIBL'E TELESCOPE STAND Herbert HfKirby and Charles Tliorin'gton; Long Beach, Calif;

Application Maye; 1948,-SerialNo. 25,176 1 Claim.'- (01. 249-170) The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in stands for supportin'gia telescopeand more particularly-to a collapsible stand for use by riflemen in a prone position to hold a spotting telescopeina manner whereby the telescope ma'y'be 'linefufiwith one of the eyes of the rifleman while he is aiming with' the other eye;

An important object of the invention is to provide a collapsible stand of this character so constructed that no part of the riflemans arm can touch the stand when in proper firing position and including a base composed of right angularly disposed horizontal arms for resting on the ground and pivoted to the lower end of an upstanding post having a bracket at its upper end for supporting the telescope thereon, the arms being foldable against the post for convenient transportation or storage purposes.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for vertically adjusting the bracket at the upper end of the post as well as for adjusting the angle of the telescope secured thereto.

A still further object is to provide a device of this character of simple and practical construction, which is efficient and reliable in use, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a side elevational view;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view Figure 3 is a side elevational view showing the base in folded position;

Figure 4 is a side elevational View of the adjustable telescope supporting bracket;

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational View of the bracket with parts broken away and shown in section, and

Figure 6 is a sectional View taken substantially on the line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein for the purpose of illustration we have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention the numeral 5 designates the stand generally and which is constructed of a pair of elongated base members or arms 6 and l pivotally attached to the lower end of an angle iron post 8 to position the arms at right angles with respect to each other when in an open position resting on the ground. The lower end of the post 8 pro- The post-is supported in an inwardly inclined position-by means of stops l 0 at each side of 'the' postand-with which the upper-edges ofthe-arms respectively engage. Theari'ns 6 and 7 are pivi oted to the-postby means of bolts and nuts 'Il whereby the arms and post may be rigidly con nected to each other when in open position to rigidly hold the post in its upstanding position.

The upper end of the post is formed with a socket l2 in which a stem I3 is slidably and rotatably adjustable and held in its vertically and horizontally adjusted position by a set screw l4 carried by the socket. A collar [5 is vertically adjustable on the stem by means of a set screw l6 and which rests upon the top of the socket 12 to hold the stem in its vertically adjusted position while the set screw l4 holds the stem in its horizontally adjusted position following the vertical adjustment thereof.

The upper end of stem I3 is curved to form a goose neck I! which is pivoted to one end of a substantially bellcrank plate I8 and which in turn is pivoted at a central portion to a horizontal V-shaped clamping plate l9.

The other end of the plate I8 is provided with a socket 20 in which a ball 2| is swivelly held and carried at the inner end of an adjusting screw 22 threaded through an apertured boss 23 at the adjacent end of the clamping plate I9. The outer end of the adjusting screw is provided with a knurled knob 24 and a coil spring 25 is positioned between the boss 23 and the plate 3 to tensionally hold the adjusting screw in its adjusted position.

A clamping band 26 extends around the clamping plate I9 and a telescope 21 to hold the telesccpe firmly in the angle of the clamping plate.

In the operation of the device the stand is set up with the arm 6 extending transversely in front of a rifleman 28 in a prone position and the arm 1 extending rearwardly at one side of the rifleman. The post 8 is thus supported in a rearwardly and inwardly inclined position at the pivoted ends of the arms and the stem [3 is then adjusted vertically and horizontally to a correct position for aligning the rear end of the telescope 21 with one eye of the rifleman while he aims a rifle 29 with his other eye. The angle of the telescope is adjusted by the adjusting screw 22 which tilts the clamping plate IQ for the telescope upwardly or downwardly as desired.

The stand is collapsed by removing the telewill be quite apparent to those skilled in this art.

A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a l5 preferred embodiment of the invention the same is susceptible to certain chang'esfully. COIIIDI'G-q hended by the spirit of the invention as herein described and the scope of, the appendedclaim.

Having. described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

' A telescope stand comprising a'base composed of a post, a pairof horizontal arms pivoted to the lower end of the post for folding against the post and positioned substantially'at right angles to each other'to support the post in'an upstand-i 25 a stern carried at the upper end of ing position,

i ei e or v tex lidi endilhsiflzomel itary adjustment, a V-shaped clamping plate for holding a telescope, and means connecting the clamping plate to one side of the stem for adjusting the angle of a telescope attached to the plate and including a substantially bellcrank lever to which the plate is pivoted, and an adjusting screw between the plate and the lever.

HERBERT H. KIRBY.

CHARLES B. THORINGTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 631,033 Wright et a1 Aug. 15, 1899 1,045,583 Mills Nov. 26, 1912 1,481,998 Eldredge Jan. 29, 1924 1,612,148 Oettinger 'Dec. 28, 1926 1,646,165 Naujok's et'al. Oct.18, 1927: 1,806,074 MacGrego'r May 19, 1931 2,128,409 Hager Aug. 30, 1938" FOREIGN PATENTS Number: Gouritry -Date Great Britain Sept. 8, 1927-, 

